Pierre
Luneau-Papin Semper Excelsior Clos des Noelles 2002 Muscadet Sevre et
Maine, FranceAfter
a 30 month elevage, this attractively packaged Muscadet is just beautiful.
It's a concentrated, full flavoured white with expressive, complex mineral
and herb notes on the nose. The palate is rich with powerful mineralic
fruit and hints of citrus pith, as well as an almost marine-like quality
that's hard to describe. Almost profound. 90/100 (www.lescaves.co.uk)

Secano
Pinot Noir 2007 Leyda Valley, ChileMade
for Marks & Spencer by Vina Leyda. This is a really vibrant Pinot Noir
with lovely pure, sappy cherry and raspberry fruit, complemented by a
subtle spicy, medicinal note that remains in the background. It's perhaps
a little too green and herbal, but the fresh, bright fruit here has a
lovely purity to it. It's a delightfully fresh wine that tastes like
Pinot. Very primary, but quite joyful. 88/100 (£6.99 Marks & Spencer)

Santa
Rita Floresta Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Leyda Valley, ChileAttractively
packaged, this Sauvignon comes from the cool-climate coastal Leyda region
in Chile. It’s quite impressive, with a mandarin and grapefruit notes,
as well as some green pepper and a bit of minerality. Concentrated but
smooth and quite understated, this is sophisticated rather than showy. A
serious effort. 91/100 (£8.99 Waitrose)

Dönnhoff
Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 2006 Nahe, GermanyWhat
a remarkable wine. It’s incredibly rich – much richer than you’d
expect a Mosel Kabinett to be – with bold, sweet citrus, melon and pear
flavours mingling beautifully with spicy minerality and brisk acidity. All
the competing elements are held in almost perfect tension, with the
sugar/acid balance supporting the expressive fruitiness quite wonderfully.
It’s concentrated and quite sweet, and really elegant and harmonious.
It’s great to find so much complexity in a relatively young wine like
this. 8.5% alcohol. 93/100 (Les Caves de Pyrene)

Buglioni
Il Clandestino 2007 Bianco Veronese IGT ItalyFrom Valpolicella country, this is a really attractive fruit focused
white. The nose has complex herb, smoke and mineral layers as well as some
fresh white peach notes. The palate is focused and fresh with some gentle
melony fruit as well as a stony, minerally finish. 89/100 (£8.55 Great
Western Wine)

Maycas
del Limari Syrah Reserva 2007 Limari Valley, ChileAmazingly
deep colour. Beautiful nose of sweet brooding blackberry and raspberry jam
with complex spicy notes and lovely purity. On the palate there's a hint
of rubbery greenness, which along with the pure blackcurrant fruit which
makes it taste a bit Chilean, but there are also warm spicy notes. It's a
ripe, fruity wine of broad appeal, and overdelivers for its price point.
90/100 (£8.99 Oddbins, Tesco)

Macia
Batle Crianza 2005 Binissalem, Mallorca, SpainSweet, seductive
ripe fruity nose with some savoury, spicy, tarry notes. Quite
sophisticated in a warm, ripe style. The palate is sweetly fruited but has
bold, earthy, spicy notes, too. Nicely savoury, finishing long and earthy.
A complex wine that should evolve nicely for the next three years or so.
90/100 (£10.99 Noel Young, The Vineyard Dorking, Thomas Panton, Corks of
Cotham)

Jorge
Ordonez & Co Malaga Seleccion Especial 2006 Spain
Made from Moscatel grapes dried on the vine. Light yellow in colour, this
has a beautifully fresh aromatic nose of citrus oil, grapes and mandarins.
The palate is super sweet and quite viscous, but with lovely bright spicy
orange fruit and good acid providing a perfect counterpoint. Deliciously
fresh, and quite complex for a young wine, this is tremendously easy to
drink. 92/100 (£12.99 per half, Indigo Wines, Lay & Wheeler, The
Vineking)

Monte
Tondo Casette Foscarin 2004 Soave Classico, ItalyYellow/gold colour.
Complex nose of lemon, mandarin and herbs leads to a palate that is
mouthfilling, dense and rich, with citrus fruit, honey and a bit of nutty
depth. There are some pithy, bitter notes on the finish. It's a complex,
food-friendly white that's peaking now. 91/100 (£12.30 Great Western
Wine) 07/08

Tamellini
2006 Soave,
ItalyFull yellow colour.
Rich and a bit nutty with a sweet, mealy, toasty richness and some melon
fruit, as well as some finer honeysuckle notes. Sophisticated and broad
with a distinctive sweetness. 89/100 (£9.99 Cadman Fine Wines)

Julien Schaal
'African Dream' Syrah 2005 Western Cape, South AfricaFrom a vineyard in
Elgin, this is made by a French winemaker and matured in 900 litre French
oak barrels, and it's really good. The nose is sweet and ripe with dark
cherry and blackberry fruit framed by a subtly roasted, spicy character,
as well as a bit of meatiness. The palate combines lush fruit with spicy
definition, as well as bright acidity. It's very ripe, but minerally and
fresh with it. I wouldn't go so far as to call it Rhone-like, as some has
done. It's more like an elegant take on Barossa Valley. Finishes fresh.
Great value for money, this. 91/100 (£9.99 Handford Wines)